BILL NUMBER: AB 2080	CHAPTERED  09/28/00

	CHAPTER   800
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 28, 2000
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 28, 2000
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 22, 2000
	PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 18, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 29, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 15, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 7, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 24, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 10, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MARCH 30, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Granlund

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2000

   An act to amend Section 14110.8 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to Medi-Cal.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2080, Granlund.  Medi-Cal:  long-term care services.
   Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, administered by
the State Department of Health Services, under which qualified
low-income persons are provided with health care services.
   Existing law provides that when a patient in a nursing facility
who is on non-Medi-Cal status converts to Medi-Cal coverage, any
security deposit paid to the facility by the patient or on his or her
behalf, as a condition of admission to the facility, shall be
returned and the obligations and responsibilities of the patient or
responsible party shall be null and void.
   This bill would, instead, designate a patient as a resident, and
would provide that these obligations shall, during the time period
the resident is covered by the Medi-Cal program, be limited to the
obligations and responsibilities provided for under the Medi-Cal
program.
   Existing law also permits a facility to require, as a condition of
admission, that where the patient has an agent, the agent sign or
cosign the admissions agreement and agree to distribute to the
facility, promptly when due, the share of cost and any other charges
not paid for by the Medi-Cal program which the patient and his or her
agent has agreed to pay.
   This bill would require a resident and his or her agent to pay a
facility the share of cost for which the resident is responsible
under the Medi-Cal program.
   The bill would authorize the resident or agent to apply for a
hearing, if the resident or agent disputes the amount of share of
cost owed to a facility.
   Existing law provides that the amount of the agent's financial
obligation under these provisions is limited to the amount of the
funds received but not distributed to the facility.
   This bill would provide an exception to this provision.
   Existing law provides that any agent who willfully violates the
above-described provisions is guilty of a misdemeanor.
   Because the bill would change the definition of a crime, the bill
would constitute a state-mandated local program.
  The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state.  Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) Residents in California's long-term care facilities are
particularly vulnerable to the theft of personal funds designated as
resident "share of cost" under the Medi-Cal program.
   (b) The theft or illegal diversion of a resident's share of cost
funds has an adverse impact on the resources available to ensure
quality care for all facility residents.
   (c) This act is necessary to protect long-term care resident
rights, provide appropriate resources for resident care, and ensure
that resident funds designated to pay for long-term care are used for
that purpose.
   (d) This act is intended to affect individuals who intentionally
steal or divert resident share of cost, and not to change the
obligations or responsibilities of Medi-Cal residents or deter
legitimate disputes over the amount of a resident's share of cost.
  SEC. 2.  Section 14110.8 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   14110.8.  (a) For the purposes of this section:
   (1) "Facility" means any long-term health care facility as defined
in subdivisions (c), (d), (e), (g), and (h) of Section 1250 of the
Health and Safety Code.
   (2) "Resident" means a person who is a facility resident or
patient and a Medi-Cal beneficiary and whose facility care is being
paid for in whole or in part by Medi-Cal.
   (3) "Agent" means a person who manages, uses, or controls those
funds or assets of the resident that legally are required to be used
to pay the resident's share of cost and other charges not paid for by
the Medi-Cal program.
   (4) "Responsible party" means a person other than the resident or
potential resident, who, by virtue of signing or cosigning an
admissions agreement of a facility, either together with, or on
behalf of, a potential resident, becomes personally responsible or
liable for payment of any portion of the charges incurred by the
resident while in the facility.  A person who signs or cosigns a
facility's admissions agreement by virtue of being an agent under a
power of attorney for health care or an attorney-in-fact under a
durable power of attorney executed by the potential resident, a
conservator of the person or estate of the potential resident, or a
representative payee, is not a responsible party under this section,
and does not thereby assume personal responsibility or liability for
payment of any charges incurred by the resident, except to the extent
that the person, or the resident's conservator or representative
payee is an agent as defined in paragraph (3).
   (b) No facility may require or solicit, as a condition of
admission into the facility, that a Medi-Cal beneficiary have a
responsible party sign or cosign the admissions agreement.  No
facility may accept or receive, as a condition of admission into the
facility, the signature or cosignature of a responsible party for a
Medi-Cal beneficiary.
   (c) A facility may require, as a condition of admission, where a
resident has an agent, that the resident's agent sign or cosign the
admissions agreement and agree to distribute to the facility promptly
when due, the share of cost and any other charges not paid for by
the Medi-Cal program which the resident or his or her agent has
agreed to pay.  The financial obligation of the agent shall be
limited to the amount of the resident's funds received but not
distributed to the facility.  A new agent who did not sign or cosign
the admissions agreement shall be held responsible to distribute
funds in accordance with this section.
   (d) When a resident on non-Medi-Cal status converts to Medi-Cal
coverage, any security deposit paid to the facility by the resident
or on the resident's behalf as a condition of admission to the
facility shall be returned and the obligations and responsibilities
of the resident or responsible party during the time period when the
resident is covered by Medi-Cal shall be limited to the obligations
and responsibilities provided for under the Medi-Cal program.  In the
event that the resident becomes ineligible for Medi-Cal coverage at
any time subsequent to converting to Medi-Cal coverage, the resident
and responsible party shall be bound by the terms of the original
admission agreement, or any admission agreement in effect at the time
the Medi-Cal coverage commenced.
   (e) When a resident on non-Medi-Cal status converts to Medi-Cal
coverage, the facility shall make a reasonable attempt to assist the
resident in contacting the county to obtain an estimate of the
resident's share of cost.
   (f) A resident and his or her agent shall pay to the facility the
share of cost, for which he or she is responsible under the Medi-Cal
program, unless otherwise exempted by law.
   (g) If a resident or his or her agent disputes the amount of share
of cost owed to a facility, the resident or agent may apply for a
state hearing pursuant to Section 10950 for a determination of the
amount of share of cost owed to the facility.
   (h) Any agent who willfully violates the requirements of this
section is guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof,
shall be punished by a fine not to exceed two thousand five hundred
dollars ($2,500) or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed
180 days, or both.
  SEC. 3.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the
only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district
will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction,
eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime
or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government
Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.
